Posted by DesMoines Register, IA on November 09, 2008 at 10:59:08:
Carlson: Church cook-off is recipe for fun
By JOHN CARLSON • jcarlson@dmreg.com • November 9, 2008
Slater, Ia. — There's little chance of ending up with many friends in the room after judging a cooking contest.
The fact is, I was advised against heading to this lovely Story County town on a gorgeous autumn evening by a guy with experience in such things.
"The one person who wins the competition will think you're the smartest, most perceptive person on the planet," he said. "Everybody else will think you're a dummy with no taste and no sense. They'll hate you. Trust me."
I went, of course.
After all, Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Slater was hosting its first-ever "Casserole Cook-Off." The plan was for 15 teams of talented Iowa cooks- not chefs, cooks - to turn out their best casseroles. The whole town was invited. I would help pick the best.
Holy hot dish. What better way to spend an autumn evening? What's more Iowa than that?
The event was from 5 to 7 p.m. last Sunday in the lunchroom of the Ballard West Elementary School here. I arrived 10 minutes early. The line was already out the door.
I met my fellow judges, Slater Mayor Gary Halverson and Jeff Meyer, director of the town's public library.
None of us had done this sort of thing before, making us a perfect threesome.
"At least I can leave town when it's over," I told them, checking out the fire exits. "You guys have to face these folks every day. The ones who don't win, I mean."
Brenda Neville, a church member and one of the organizers, told us not to worry. It was all about having a good time. It seemed like most of the town was there, and while the goal was to raise money for a building project at the Lutheran church, there was more to what went on.
Catholics were there dishing up their favorite casseroles, along with Methodists, all helping out the Lutherans.
"This is a way to keep spirits up and keep this community close," Neville said. "It brings comfort and strength during a very tough time."
Comfort. A good word for this evening, because casseroles are what can accurately be described as "comfort food." People left the school lunchroom quite comfortable.
Each team or group of cooks stood behind decorated tables lined next to the walls around the big room. People moved from table to table, picking up a small sample of each casserole .
At least they looked like small samples. Eat 15 small samples, then some homemade cake or cookies and it's a lot of food.
Norma Erickson and Connie Kennedy made a chicken-and-dressing casserole. Neville and Jolene Lettow dished up sausage primavera pie. Kevin and Joan Schoon had a "runza casserole" that was full of shredded cabbage, hamburger, crescent rolls and mozzarella cheese.
There was Cathy Lewis' and Jennifer Weigel's "Zippy Lasagna" and, Shellie Siebert's and Sue Essick's corn bread casserole. It was loaded with chili and one of my favorites. One of the categories we judged was the originality of the recipes.
"How are we supposed to know if these are original?" Halverson whispered to me.
"Beats me," I told him. "How about we fake it and just vote for what tastes good?"
Sure, we read the recipes - everybody who attended got recipes of all the casseroles - and we took our best shot. We judged the taste and the decoration of the tables, added up the numbers and came up with a grand prize winner.
It was Jeff and Jacob Herrin's "Crabby Mac 'n' Cheese." It had pasta shells, a little hot sauce, onions, butter, brie, crab meat and some other stuff.
The winner was announced and nobody complained. To me, anyway. And I doubt to anybody else.
It was a fun evening in a small Iowa town.
The church raised nearly $2,500. People had a great time.
My only regret is there was no category for "best name" of a casserole.
Rose Steoger and Jill Smith at table No. 11 would have gotten my vote on that one. They called their creation "Hot Dish." Perfect.
So was "Pedro's Pizza," cooked up by Greg and Karen Larson. It was wonderful and had nothing to do with casseroles. They came because they serve up pizza to family and friends in Slater every Sunday night. They thought they'd share with everybody.
For the record, the man who advised against my being a judge was wrong.
Some who lost may think I have no taste. But we all parted friends.
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